Ah, May…caught somewhere between Easter and the peak tourist season. Warmer and drier than April, but not as hot as the summer.
In other words, a decent time to visit Vienna. Particularly if you enjoy your music, food and drink, for May is a month full of classical and culinary festivals.
- Book a classical concert experience* for your trip
- See also:
Top activities in May 2027
So, aside from the usual museums, tours, concerts and other sights, what does the month offer the discerning visitor to Vienna?
My quick tip
With the shift from spring to summer in May, consider taking in an appropriate soundtrack in the form of Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons.
Members of the Orchestra 1756 perform the piece regularly in the baroque Karlskirche church, and I thoroughly enjoyed my visit.
#wienliebe
(A neogothic background, white canopies and plenty of Viennese food and drink)
A big annual event is #wienliebe (2027 dates TBA). It presents the best of Vienna’s food, drink, music, crafts, sports, and more in a multi-day festival.
- Some of the famous gastronomic, brewing and vineyard addresses in the city provide the food, beer and wine
- A stage hosts musical and other performances across a range of genres associated with Vienna (from classical onwards)
- A selection of stalls showcase the crafted products of small enterprises
Exhibitions in May
(Lower Belvedere normally has top art exhibitions)
Highlights
Most schedules are not up yet, but so far we have:
- The Albertina Modern ends its showcase of contemporary and modern art from Australia (runs until May 2nd)
- It’s also your last chance to see (until May 2nd) the MAK’s look at the development of Viennese interior design in the years between the world wars
- Catch the last couple of days of the biographical exhibition on sculptor Franz West and Vienna at the Wien Museum (also until May 2nd)
- The Jewish Museum draws its exhibition on Jewish orientalists to a close (on until May 9th)
- Fashion in Vienna in the early 20th century is the subject of an exhibition at the Leopold Museum, with a focus on the Wiener Werkstätte and Parisian influences
- The Naturhistorisches Museum casts a critical eye over its own collections and history in its 150th anniversary exhibition. And they present insights into life in the early middle ages gleaned from archaeogenetic research
For more detailed exhibition listings at the major venues, see my curated overview.
More art(s)…
- For art in its broadest sense, the huge Wiener Festwochen multidisciplinary art festival starts this month (2027 dates TBA) with its wide-ranging programme
- The Klima Biennale takes place in the context of climate change but is strongly focused on contemporary art perspectives (next dates 2028)
- The Affordable Art Fair arrived in Vienna for the first time in 2025 over at the Marx Halle (2027 dates TBA)
- The Calle Libre urban art festival normally takes place in August but shifted to May in 2026 (2027 dates TBA)
See also some of the fairs listed below…
Fairs & fandoms
(Visit Vienna COMIX in the Marx Halle)
A few tips for those with a hankering for creativity you can buy:
- Vienna COMIX (May 22nd to 23rd) is a fair and convention covering comics in their widest sense with, for example, cosplay and plenty of Star Wars, too
- The WAMP design market showcases the delights produced by numerous independent artists and designers (2027 dates TBA)
- The open-air FRÜHLINGSQUARTIER market promises design, art, music and culinary treats (May 7th to 9th)
(The Steffl Kirtag at the cathedral)
- Think of the annual Stefflkirtag fair outside the main cathedral as a spring market with the touch of a funfair about it (May 14th to 25th)
- Fanzineist Vienna: an international fair that presents self-published and independent publications in creative fields like art, design and literature (May 22nd to 24th)
- Animarket is a pop culture market with a strong focus on anime and manga (traditionally May 1st)
Bring a glass & plate
(The national drink)
Not all the slopes in Austria are for skiing down. The country has a lot of vineyards, for example (as does Vienna itself).
Last time I checked the statistics, Austrians also drink more beer per head than anybody except our thirsty Czech neighbours.
Vienna’s bars and restaurants allow you to taste the local beverages, or you can visit these festivals in May:
- If the idea of wine sounds tempting, then consider the VieVinum, an international wine festival at the Hofburg palace (next dates TBA)
- The four-day open-air Vienna Beer Festival (2027 dates TBA) brings brewers big and small together in the very centre of Vienna
A fine glass of wine or beer goes better with a fine dish of regional food. And, as luck would have it, Vienna has plenty of wider food festivals in May, too.
(That famous central European dark bread)
- The huge Genuss Festival in the Stadtpark city park (May 7th to 9th) showcases high-quality food & drink from Austria’s agricultural and viticultural regions
- The 3-day Waldviertelpur festival (next dates TBA) features the best of the Waldviertel region (a rural area northwest of Vienna). This includes their rather hearty cuisine, particularly a myriad different things you can do with poppy seeds
- Burgenland is a small province east of Vienna, and the Burgenland Kultinarium festival (2027 dates TBA) encourages you to learn about the area with the help of large quantities of its gastronomic output
- The Wiener Zitrustage or Vienna Citrus Days (2027 dates TBA) add a little fizz and colour to the month in the rather apt location of the Schönbrunn Palace orangery
If you want to run off the accumulated calories, try the ASICS Austrian Women’s Run (2027 date TBA). And another running event held this month is the Wings for Life World Run, with a flagship event in Vienna (2027 date TBA).
Enjoy the music & celebrations
The 2026 May festivals don’t end there, either.
- The big Pride event may begin this month (2027 dates TBA)
- The Vienna Blues Spring festival typically continues across the whole of May (2027 dates TBA)
- The wean hean festival has a series of performances reflecting the Viennese song tradition (2027 dates TBA)
(Heldenplatz – home to the Fest der Freude open-air concert)
- The Gemischter Satz festival at the Konzerthaus venue combines one of Vienna’s notable wine products with classical music and more (2027 dates TBA)
- The Fest der Freude (traditionally May 8th) celebrates the liberation of Vienna and the end of Nazi rule with a free concert on Heldenplatz square next to the Hofburg palace. The Vienna Symphony orchestra performs, with the event also in remembrance of those who suffered at the hands of that occupation
- The Südwind Straßenfest (2027 dates TBA) celebrates the work of NGOs, with food stands, a fair-trade market, and the chance to learn about the work done by dozens of charities
Buy some popcorn
(A regular film festival host)
International film festivals fill Viennese screens during May. For example:
- The prestigious Vienna Shorts festival with its focus on short-form filmmaking (2027 dates TBA)
- The Ethnocineca international documentary film festival, which focuses on critical evaluation of social, political and cultural structures (2027 dates TBA)
- The mini version of the Slash Film Festival featuring all things fantastical (2027 dates TBA)
- The Wiener Arbeitsfilmfestival (2027 dates TBA) tackles the world of work in film form
Something a little different?
Festival of Robots
Discover and experience new developments in robots and robotic technologies at the Festival der Roboter, which debuted in 2026 and hopefully makes a return in 2027 (dates TBA).
4GAMECHANGERS
(The 4GAMECHANGERS stage; press photo courtesy of and © 4GAMECHANGERS & Pakugraphy)
4GAMECHANGERS (next dates TBA, possibly shifting to later after a creative break) brings together thousands of people from around the world who are interested in taking us into a better future (and many who are actively doing so).
At the previous event, each day was a separate track, with talks, panels and other activities around a wide diversity of relevant topics: from entrepreneurship to education, culture to climate change, health to human rights.
Languages were English and German (with simultaneous translation of any German talks into English).
The event has always had plenty of star power (and not just in the surrounding entertainment). Charlize Theron and Amal Clooney both appeared recently, for example.
Go for a swim
Vienna’s numerous outdoor public swimming facilities open up for the summer in May. These include:
- Family facilities, with shallow pools and family-friendly prices
- Multipurpose facilities, with both indoor and outdoor pools
- Summer facilities with open-air pools. Look, particularly, for the large recreational areas along the Alte Donau lake, such as the Gänsehäufel
Seasonal tip
Enjoy the flowers
(Enjoy the roses)
By early May, the spring and early summer flower displays planted by the city or national parks authorities are normally in full bloom. Try, for example:
- Schönbrunn Palace: the landscaped gardens in front of the palace are gorgeous. But also take the time to drop into the Kronprinzengarten, a privy garden with geometric shapes made of flower beds and different-coloured gravel
- The Rathauspark: the park surrounding the Rathausplatz square in the centre is usually full of tulips
- The gardens between the two baroque palaces at Belvedere should have a flower or three by now
- The Volksgarten: a public gardens opposite the Rathausplatz and home to hundreds of different rose varieties
- Hirschstetten: a large (and beautiful) landscaped municipal gardens and park area with various thematic zones and animals, too